Influence of shoes with different weights on the motion of the limbs in Icelandic horses during toelt at different speeds.

REASON FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Weight boots are commonly used for Icelandic horses to increase the height of the flight arc of the forelimbs in toelt.

OBJECTIVE

To show the influence of weights and toelting speed on the height of the swing phase.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Eight Icelandic horses (mean ± s.d. 12 ± 3 years old, 369 ± 46 kg) were used. Reflecting makers were placed on the dorsal side of each hoof. The motion was collected with a kinematic system (10 cameras, 120 Hz sample rate, 1.3 Mpixels resolution). The horses were ridden in toelt by 2 experienced riders on a treadmill at 2 different speeds (2.96 m/s ± 0.30 and 4.10 m/s ± 0.32). At each speed the horses were measured wearing no boots, light boots (170 g) and heavy boots (280 g) on both fore hooves. The measurement sequence was varied between horses. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was carried out to test for normal distribution of data and ANOVA for repeated measurements were used to compare differences (P < 0.05).

RESULTS

The weight as well as the speed of toelt had a significant influence on the height of the flight arc. At the lower speed, the mean ± s.d. height was 163 ± 55 mm, whereas at the higher speed the mean height was 228 ± 60 mm. The heavy weights increased the mean height at the lower speed from 152 ± 38 to 169 ± 48 mm and at the higher speed from 214 ± 60 to 245 ± 60 mm.

CONCLUSIONS

This investigation shows that Icelandic horses can be expected to show a better toelt in competitions with weights, and ridden at a higher speed. For muscle adaptation to occur, weights should therefore be used during competitions and training.